The Man Behind the Mask
by aSouthernCharmer
Summary: (Alt. Ending of the War) After teaming up with his previous teammate and his suboordinates, Obito finally was able to get some form of redemption from the years of guilt and despair of his past. Just as he was prepared to die to save his new comrades, someone stopped him, but why? Full summary inside. YAOI
1. 1 - A Living Hell

**AN: So, after being sick and binge watching Naruto Shippuden, I got some new muses and ideas for current and new stories! After watching the ending of the 4th War, I found myself feeling attached to Obito, hence this new story. I also read around, and ObiNaru stories are so few and far between. Obito should have lived, so here is my alternative ending! Hope you enjoy!**

 **THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK**

Summary: (Alternate Ending of the 4th War) After teaming up with his previous teammate, a girl who striking reminds him of his deceased love, a distant relative, and a mirror copy of his old self with blonde hair, Obito finally was able to get relief from the years of guilt and despair of his past. Just as he was prepared to die to save his new comrades, someone stopped him, but why? What is his purpose in life now?

Pairing: Obito x Naruto

Note: This is a YAOI or Boy x Boy! Don't like it? Don't read!

 **CHAPTER 1: A LIVING HELL**

 _I can feel myself falling, like in a dream. There appears to be a bottomless black pit below me while rocky terrain miles tall around me. Pain is all I can feel from my toes to the tips of my messy dark hair. My mind feels void of emotion, even though I should feel anger towards the man who "saved my life" all those year ago, for he has betrayed me. Maybe I should even feel grateful to the unlikely group of people who helped me receive some sort of redemption and saved the world as we know it. I have spent almost half of my life behind a mask with no name or identity. Now I can't seem to remember who I am or what purpose my life had for all these years._

 _Then, I saw what people describe as their "life flashing before their eyes" as memories of my past flooded my mind. For years, I have lived a lie. I was persuaded to carry out the dirty work of a man whom I thought cared for me. Before that, I lived in a world where I was a nobody to my family, friends, and village. I was weak and worthless. I could not even confess my love to the girl of my dreams before fate separated us. Life stripped all of my hopes and dreams away to leave nothing but a hallow shell of a body absent of emotion._

 _Now, it is too late for me to make a name for myself or be a somebody. When my eyes began to feel heavy, I welcomed the darkness with open arms. This is it. This is how I am truly suppose to die, not under a rock with my comrades crying over the lifeless body. I died helming to save the world I once hated. Now, I can be reunited with Rin. Now, I can finally be happy._

 _Or so I thought._

 _..._

 _ **Present**_

When the darkness fades away, I excepted to see Rin waiting for me in the afterlife. I expected to see a warm place with sunshine that was infectiously with love and happiness. I expected to be welcomed in with ope arms and all of the pain to fade away. But instead, I found even more darkness. It was like looking at the darkness with your eyes closed then opening them to see your bedroom with all the lights during off at night. What is this place? I really must have gone to hell, despite trying to redeem my sins.

Am I blind? I began to be aware of my surroundings as much as possible. Something soft was under me and something warm was wrapped around me, which I could safely assume was a bed and blanket. I couldn't hear anything other than an ear-ringing silence. I tried to open my eyes to assess my environment further, but I was unable to see anything other than more darkness. Am I alive? I tried to move my fingers and toes, but I can't tell if I was able to or not. I then tried to speak, but my vocal words failed to make a tune, and my mouth failed to move. I didn't feel any pain. What is going on? Where am I?

"Where is he?" I was suddenly snapped out of my realm of thoughts. The raspy, loud voice sounded faintly familiar, but I could not trace it back to anyone at this time. I felt something callused and warm wrap itself around mine, which helped me determine that I am not completely dead. It is obviously the hand is smaller, but not small enough to be a child's. I want to open my eyes to see who was there, but my body betrays me again. The presence looming over me felt radiating and warm in a world where I was blind. I felt the urge to draw my eyebrows together in confusion when I heard a new voice chime in.

"Here is what we know: his condition is currently stable. He sustained significant trauma to the chest, abdomen, and head. We performed surgery to stop any bleeding and fix some internal structures. Vital signs are stable at their expected ranges. We transfused 2 units of blood since he lost so much in battle. We currently have IV fluids going to keep him hydrated. Otherwise, he has been improving and would be expected to make a full recovery, except..."

"Except?" The familiar voice beside me said with a notable tone of fear.

"There is no brain activity. He is in a coma, and he may never wake up."

Indeed, I have woken up in a hell on Earth where I am mentally trapped inside of this nonfunctioning body. But where on Earth am I?

I heard the door open and close and thought I was alone again until I felt something tighten its grip on my hand almost painfully. I felt something wet hit my arm that I can assume is either sweat or tears when the familiar voice spoke again. "I should have just made it to you a little sooner, then maybe you would be here to celebrate this victory with us. They may call me the hero, but you are the one who saved us. You sacrificed so much, and I just want you to be able to live out the rest of your life here and happy with us, your comrades!" Then something soft laid down beside my hand that was being held. Some kind of emotion pulled at my heart for the first time since I woke up, but I pushed it in the back of my mind to welcome back the numbness. After all these years, I was able to master how to perfectly conceal and push away such feelings. With that, I felt darkness grip around me again in a deep sleep.

 _..._

 _ **Some time later...**_

The next time my subconscious slipped back through, it was quiet enough to hear the humming of various machines that helped me to correctly assume that I am in a hospital. I try to take this time to really gather information of what happened before I blacked out, being the last thing I truly remember was the war. Most of my memory seems to be hazy of the Shinobi War, but that may be related to whatever head injury I sustained.

At some point of the battle, Katashi's Sharringan was taken by Madara, but thanks to Naruto, he had 2 normal functioning eyes. At this time, I had 2 functioning Sharringans, since my Rinnegan was taken as well. We were trying to protect and assist Naruto and Sasuke, since it was up to them to save us from the Ten Tails, Madara, and then Kaguya. We were taken to a dimension where there was a powerful gravitational pull down on us. Kaguya was attempting to eliminate the threat of the two boys who reminded her of her two sons - more than that, her two grandsons. Kakashi and I seemed to be powerless in this situation, so when she went to impale them with her strange rods, we did not hesitate to knock them out of the way. With my Kamui, I was able to teleport many of them away to keep us safe. I knew I was a goner regardless, because anytime you are a Jinchuriki, even for a brief time like I was, your life is over. I knew I needed to add to the military power to bring this woman down before it was too late for me. I used my Kamui to pull all of us into my universe where we were allowed to freely move without the gravitational pull. I was able to search and retrieve the rods I send off earlier to use against her while the others were the distraction. Sakura healed me, as we watched Naruto and Sasuke battle against her, trying to pinpoint any weaknesses that would give us the advantage. Kakashi had noticed she was following whatever Black Zetsu advised, so Naruto was able to handle that situation with one of the rods I supplied. Thankfully, we had the element of surprise on our side. With our combined strength, we were able to bring her down. I teleported us all about to our world quickly before the sand ran out of my time left here. That is when I remember the sensation of falling, so what happened?

While I was deep in thought trying to remember what happened, someone opened and closed the door to my room. I heard shuffling across the floor before weight settled in what sounded like a chair beside my bed. My voice failed me again when I went to question who was there. Living in the darkness was getting aggravating, because I just wanted answers as to how I am still alive. I am suppose to be with Rin in the afterlife, and I could feel a pain in my chest at the voice I heard speaking said, "You weren't suppose to live. You escaped death twice now. Staying a vegetable isn't going to help you. It is time for you to wake up now."

It was none other than Kakashi. I could hear the tone of sadness that his voice held. I felt something rub across my face that I could safely assume was his hand taking off some bandages. Once my face was unwrapped, I felt a feather-like touch run down the scarred side of my face that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. These scars symbolized the sacrifice I made to Kakashi all those years ago, a sacrifice that has caused me many more years of pain. I felt my heart beating faster out of anger. I felt so overwhelmingly confused and resentful as everything about me was stripped away for a second time in my life. New scars undoubtably littered my body once again. I need to get away from here! This was the first time in a long time, I could not mask my pain.

Kakashi released his hold on my face, and I heard him take a few steps backwards. A door opened again with a new voice that said, "What is going on? We saw at the station that his heart rate has been steadily increasing!" Next, someone was at my side again, pulling my eye lids open to check my pupils and neurological responses. I recognized the nap of pink hair that fell around her white coat before she let my eyelids fall closed, and I was in darkness again. Sakura must have also been the one that was in the room last time telling someone about my condition. But who was it?

"I had removed his bandages to see his scars." A simple response came from Kakashi. I could picture him now with a hand behind his head trying to brush it off like he was innocent. He was responded with a pregnant silence that left the air feeling tense. Sakura made no response immediately, as I could feel her assessing my wounds and other things without a flinch in her movements. Finally, she let out a sign that seemed to release some of the tension.

"Kakashi, I don't want to give you false hope, because it may not happen. It may just be a freak thing. And I definitely do _not_ want you telling _him_." She said with a lot of emphasis on not and him. Who was she referring to? Who would care about me or my condition other than the man already present?

"What is it, Sakura?"

"He may be coming out of the coma. He might just wake up after all."

There was another long silence again, however this one felt comfortable, almost like the others felt relieved. No words in the English vocabulary could accurately describe my emotions at this time, so I felt myself put back on the mental mask to hide away. There was no point in me worrying about something as trivial as this now. I am suppose to be dead after all. I heard the door close again before falling back to sleep.


	2. 2 - Time Lapse

**CHAPTER 2: Time Lapse**

The next time I woke up, I had a bone chilling ache throughout my body that most likely was related to prolonged immobility. The profound weakness only supported my theory further when I found it difficult to move around the bed. I felt slightly disoriented when I opened up my eyes to see 4 white walls around me that did not seem familiar at all. I glanced down my arm to see an IV line that helped me quickly figure out that I am in a hospital. Suddenly, all the previous memories came rushing back of Sakura, Kakashi, and the other voice I heard in my comatose state. The mental and physical tiredness was overwhelming since I have done nothing but rest for such an unknown period of time.

I decided to assess my situation further by removing the bed sheets and pulling up the hospital gown to expose the overheard trauma areas. My abdomen was securely wrapped like white snakes covering nearly all of the skin. I moved up to my torso where a large scar was across the right side of my chest with no stitches, staples, or any other form of closure present. I can only assume the supposed surgery Sakura spoke about happened a while ago for it to have healed this much already. To conform that, I noticed that my skin had lost what little coloring it had before. Next, I felt my fingers move up to my face, where I felt no significant difference from the scarring that was already present. It seemed that my condition must have dramatically improved since that conversation.

I moved to sit up with some difficulty due to weakness, but I managed to swing my legs over the bed to try to stand up and stretch the ache out of my muscles. Just when I was able to stand erect, a disturbing alarm sounded that forced me to fall back onto the bed. Before I had a chance to figure out where the startling noise came from, a group of three burst through the door looking just as caught off-guard, one being the familiar face of Sakura. Though I immediately recognized her, there seemed to be some aging that has occurred. All the teenager features had dissipated to instead give her the features of a young woman. I could physically feel myself relax at the possibility of getting some answers.

Sakura's face changed from startled to stern as she walked over to my bed and assisted me to lay back down. Her actions reminded me of something a mother would do to her child, but I am obviously a good bit her senior. Maybe it was just that motherly nature quality that people who heal others for a living needed to possess in order to be successful in their career.

"Don't push yourself too hard. You aren't ready to move around so freely yet."

Just when I opened my mouth to reply, a haziness clouded my vision once again. I jerked my head over to see a syringe held by the pink haired girl pushing something into my IV line that was causing these sedative effects. " _Damn it all to hell with you Leaf ninja!"_ I though to myself before whatever drug given to me took effect. It did not seem like 5 seconds before I was in a peaceful dreamland.

 _ **Some time later...**_

For the 4th time, I awoke. This game was starting to become irritating to me. I was an adult who had legal rights to my body, but it seemed that everything was being stripped away each time I woke up. Frustrated at this, I was ready to express my anger, but I stopped my near outburst when I heard muffled voices speaking around me. I decided to instead act like I was still sleeping on order to listen in on the conversation.

"...woke up this morning like he has only been sleeping for a week. This kind of thing never happens. It is almost a miracle." I could pick out this voice to be Sakura's. My jaw clinched at the sound of her voice.

"Did he say or do anything?" said a voice that I wasn't sure who it belonged to. Whoever it was had that raspy tone I have heard before and couldn't pinpoint.

"No. He only managed to stand up beside the bed when the bed alarms went off. I had to sedate him before he tried to do something reckless and injury himself. Even if he has come out of the coma, it will take months if not years for him to recover enough to do any normal activities. This is a very fragile time for him." Sakura said.

"Did you tell him anything?" The second voice ask with what sounded like... happiness? Hopefulness? Why does this one seem to care so much? The male sounding voice already shaded tears for me before.

"No. For all he knows, the war just ended yesterday." Sakura sighed. I could picture her saying this with downcast eyes. So how much time has really passed while I was in such a slumber?

"So, what do we do now?" A new voice said. I am almost sure it was Kakashi speaking this time.

"We wait. We have to do this by baby steps. He may be physically okay, but there is no telling what his mental condition is like. Sometimes, patients don't get over this kind of chronic condition. He needs to be monitored carefully for the next few months here at the hospital at least." Sakura replied.

Next few months? Just how long have I been unconscious? I decided to get answers this time. I opened up my eyes very slowly to look at the three in front of me, but I had to bite my tongue to hold back a gasp. It really alarmed me to see 3 of the 4 people I fought side-by-side with what seemed like yesterday have changed so much, but not at all in a bad way.

Sakura had aged just as I thought. Her hair was still shoulder length, but she had grown taller. Her face was thinner, and her body appeared to take on a more feminine shape. She sported the white lab coat that shouted her authority in the hospital walls.

Next to her stood my previous teammate, and I wasn't surprised to see how he had not changed a bit. Despite having two normal eyes, he still masked the left eye from view and concealed half of his face. His silver hair seems to have become more tamed, but no obvious signs of aging appeared. By the presence of the white jacket, I can almost definitely assume that he must have become Hokage, but when?

The last person in the group surprised me the most. From the black sandals on his feet to the obviously shorter blonde hair, Naruto looked like a true man. His build had grown taller and more muscular. His eyes showed wisdom and tanned skin had not changed except maybe it was even darker than before. The scars on his face have somewhat faded or grown smaller in proportion to his face. He ditched the total orange jumpsuit for black capris and jacket with just a slight orange trim on the stitching. It somewhat reminded me of the getup I wore in my Genin days. For lack of a better word, Naruto looked handsome.

Just as I was finishing assessing them, the group seemed to notice my presence. Before I had a chance to blink an eye, all 3 of them surrounded my bed, with Naruto patting my shoulder in the same confident manner as before. He sported a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. It was kind of disturbing to see him this way, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

"Obito, it is so good to see you awake! We have so much catching up to do, and I know you probably have a lot of questions. I promise we are going to help you!" The blonde haired man said. Something about the young man really irked me that I could not quite put my finger on.

"Wh-what hap-happened?" My voice was stutters and shaky from disuse. It felt like my vocal cords just scratched together rather than let air pass over them to make tones. I decided to push through it because I was tired of being in the dark.

Naruto pulled up a chair to sit beside me, and the other two seemed to fall suit. He got settled in comfortably enough to give me the impression of a long conversation was about to ensue. His eyes were glazed over once as he opened his mouth to speak. "The war is over. We were all able to defeat the enemy with your help. When you teleported us back to our world, you immediately lost consciousness, and fell backwards into a cliff between the mountains. I jumped in after you, and I had to use many of my Shadow Clones to be able to reach you quicker at the rate you were falling. The power the Sage of Six Paths gave me had not gone away yet. When I managed to grab a hold of you, the last remaining power from the old man I pushed into you. I was desperate for you to live to see how we could change the world. When I made it back to the group, you had still not woken up, but your heart beat was strong. Sakura healed you, but you failed to wake up even after we brought you back to Kohana. You have remained in a coma all this time., but the strange thing was, time never seemed to effect you. Despite all the time that passes, you never ate a spoon full of food to keep you nourished. You never drank a stop of water. You never did anything a normal person has to do on a daily basis. Somehow, it is like your time stoped while you slept. I guess it is the power of the Sage, because even now you bear the mark of the Light on your back where I touched you. It is almost like you have been granted mortality."

My eyes widened every so slightly in surprise that only those you really knew me would notice. I fought to keep a neutral affect on my face despite the new information. I decided to stretch my neck out again to ask, "H-how much t-time has pa-passed?" I cringed at the weak voice.

Naruto and the others looked at each other with a look that gave my stomach knots before Kakashi replied, "10 years" with a grim look on his face.

I was dumfounded, and all that followed was silence.

 **Thank you for reading! PLEASE review! Your words help motivate me to update!**


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